The Tragedy of the Wood
by MyDearGoddessofthemoonandsun
Summary: An argument over the state of Marianne's relationship with Bog pushes King Dagda to reveal the truth regarding the history between the fairies and the goblins


Dedicated to Suzie-Guru (aka Selkie_de_Suzie on AO3) & artbymaureen for inspiring me through their fics, headcanons and conversations regarding this fandom

Note: This the edited version (originally posted on my tumblr) though if anyone catches any more mistakes please tell me! I am a new writer and welcome all comments! :D

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"Dad! You really have to let it go! I'm not breaking up with Bog and that's **final**!"

Throwing the doors open Marianne stormed into the empty throne room, making sure to stomp and growl loudly for extra emphasis on her displeasure.

Gently closing the doors, King Dagda turned to look at his pacing, fuming daughter. His soft but firm voice caught her attention as he tried to explain himself.

"Marianne, it's not that I don't want you happy it's just that I don't want you to get hurt."

Sighing loudly Marianne crossed her arms and slumped into the Kings Throne, looking tired and just about done talking about this.

"Dad, please! You have to stop thinking that Bog is gonna hurt me just because he is a goblin. He's sweet and treats me right! Nothing he does to me is without my consent!"

A weighty silence suddenly filled the room, startling Marianne out of her staring contest with the floor. Glancing at her father she was concerned to see how heartbroken and pained he looked.

"…Dad?"

"You... **care** for him and he… **cares** deeply for you, I-I know. I've seen how he treats you and that you are happier than you ever were with Roland. Even he looks happy, something I always thought to be impossible." Dagda glanced down, indecisive about finishing this conversation. Coming to a decision, he looked back up and stared at his rebellious, stubborn, little girl with forlorn eyes. "But that's not the reason why I am so against it."

Raising a hand, he quickly stopped her immediate protesting and threw her a pleading look.

"No Marianne, let me talk. Please."

Annoyed at being silenced, she slouched even further into the throne, balling her hands into clenched fists, she made sure to throw her legs over the arm of the chair for good measure.

"I disagree with your…Bog, not just because of tradition or social expectations. The Fairy Vale and Dark Forest wasn't always so divided you know. In fact we used to live in peace with each other, mingling and existing side by side in the exact same location."

Arching an eyebrow, Marianne stopped sinking further into the throne. This conversation was not going in the direction she had thought it would, and any information about a time of peace between goblins and fairies could only help her and Bog in the long run.

"Before the vale was the Vale, or the dark forest was the Dark Forest, there existed a single Wood. This Wood had no fields of flowers or roaming green pastures but many strong trees with plenty of sunlight peaking through their leaves and lightening up the forest floor. There the flowers grew and flowered, becoming homes where the fairies lived, while in the roots of the surrounding trees the goblins made their homes."

Puzzled Marianne quickly pointed out the contradiction between what her tutors had taught her and what he was saying.

"But, we were always taught that the fairies were born in the Vale and the goblins in the Dark Forest. That it was our bad luck to be neighbours to them when other fairy kingdoms weren't."

"That's not a complete truth, but it's also not a complete lie either."

Grabbing a nearby chair, King Dagda placed it in front of the steps to the throne and tried with a disheartened smile to explain the bittersweet history of the goblins and fairies. The terrible tragedy of how the Vale and the Dark Forest came to be.

"There was a time, so very long ago, that our people thrived among the goblins. It wasn't a one sided relationship of course, the goblins too benefited from us. We awoke in the flowers and took care of the Wood during the day, while at night the goblins came out to take care of the rot and the growth of the necessary dark things that can be found in any healthy Wood. Magic, in that time, ran rampant, helping us finish our tasks and keep our duties in caring for the health of the Wood; we lived in complete harmony. However because of our busy schedules we only ever saw the goblins in the brief twilight hours; early dawn and late dusk. Yet in the end, it was in those meetings that feelings between our people began to cultivate and grow. Soon many young goblins and fairies fell in love and for one shinning moment everything was perfect."

Pausing to catch his breath and dab his handkerchief at his brow, Dagda looked at his enraptured daughter sitting so eagerly in the throne. For a moment he thought back to when Marianne was a tiny babe and would sit on her mothers lap as he told her bedtime stories. Shaking himself out of nostalgic memories he cleared his throat and carried on with the story.

"The first problem came with the marriage of fairies and goblins. We had a different wedding ritual then, one which was more rooted in magic than the current one. Fairies and goblins had their own magic and when combined it sparked like a glowing ember into roaring flames. Many unions resulted in magically drunk goblins and fairies, with the main couple nearly feral with the overdose. Potential death of the bride and groom, along with their guests was a serious concern. Those who had less magic managed to avoid those complications and even managed to get pregnant. That was when the second problem appeared."

Making sure to stare Marianne in the eyes, he waited till he saw he had her complete focus before pushing on.

"Fairy and goblin pregnancies are dangerous. Not only for the mothers but for the babies as well. Many stillborn births occurred during that time and most of the mothers died in childbirth, regardless if they where fairy or goblin. Those women who were able to survive were left with long term health problems that would cut their life expectancy by half. The children who managed to live longer than a few days were in two conditions. Either they were sickly or they seemed to be in perfect health, but in reality brought forward a new more horrifying and longer lasting issue."

Marianne's eyes widened with silent horror and a small part of her heart that had nursed the dream of being able to have Bogs baby shattered quietly into pieces. Swallowing harshly, she choked out her question.

"What was the problem? And why…why did this happen?"

Smiling cheerlessly, Dagda reached out his left hand and gently cupped his daughter's cheek. Stroking her gently with his thumb he seamed to search her soul before answering.

"The root of the problem was in the magic itself. It clashed, exploded and eventually weakened when forced together. Side by side pure harmony was achieved, yet forced to mix and nothing but chaos and destruction was leftover. The mothers where unable to handle the two magics clashing and battling within them as the child developed; the very worst though was when some children who survived were found healthy. Those children, we quickly learned to fear and dread. They seemed alright at first, interesting mixes and characteristics of their parents, but soon we realized with horror that there was something wrong inside their minds. Something truly wretched to have them be far more brutal than goblin rough housing and 10 times more cruel and creative. They seemed to lack something inside in exchange for the dangerous amount of magic they possessed."

Dropping his hand from his eldest little girl, a slight flutter of wings from the corner of his eye caught his attention. Watery blue eyes peered from behind a column; it looked like Dawn had joined his story time.

"The two magical groups that governed the two sides where forced to put down these children when they began to have murder sprees, butchering both fairies and goblins. This decision triggered the anger and grief of these children's families to spread among our people and clash against those who had lost theirs by their hands. Riots and fights where sparking everywhere the councils looked. In their neglect and lack of harmony, the Wood was falling sick from all this death,grief, rage and chaos. Something had to be done before we destroyed ourselves completely."

A soft whimper echoed in the chamber, his sweet Dawn shouldn't be hearing this. She's not strong enough to handle it; feeling himself grow frustrated with the position he was stuck in, he forced himself to finish the tale. This is something that Marianne had to know and hopefully, understand.

"It was decided that in order to survive and make sure this tragedy never happened again, the goblins and the fairies would be separated. The two magical user groups from both sides banded together to split our people apart and get rid of any chance to have this event repeated in the future."

Rough tanned hands held his little sunshine's hand; Dagda might not have wished Sunny as her…well as hers, but at least he was thankful that she was truly loved.

"It was in this casting that the Wood was torn apart into two. One becoming the Vale and the other becoming the Dark Forest. Still this was not enough; using magic beyond the up keeping of the new lands (which was more of an unconscious magic) was strictly forbidden. In order to ensure that no one would use conscious magic again the fairy magical group destroyed most of the magic mentioned in our written history and magical knowledge was deemed too dangerous for the public to remember. A powerful spell was woven into the very nature of the Vale that sealed any magic in a fairy away, into our very blood and wings."

Purple wings twitched in shock as big brown eyes peered into her fathers very tired, and suddenly, very old ones.

"The goblin group on the other hand preferred keeping a oral history and were stubborn on not forgetting what had occurred; however the drain of sustaining the forest on their own saw to the loss of their magical blood, and eventually to the knowledge of how to use it in the passing years. With no fairies to keep the growth of the forest alive they instead committed one last desperate attempt at magic. They found a small untouched by magic spot in the forest and pooled their excess magic into it, hoping that a being would be born to replace the fairies. Their wish was partially granted and a magical being was brought into existence, but instead of being a creature that represented the growth from magic, it was a creature that represented all that chaos that magic could bring, The Imp."

"The _Imp_ is **magic**?!"  
" **Shush** Sunny! I want to hear!"  
"Sorry!"

Restraining from rolling his eyes at the "whispered" argument behind the column, he kept his eyes on Marianne. From her quick glance to that column it seems she too had noticed her sister and her…elf.

"Meanwhile the Vale was growing beautifully through our unconscious magic but an imbalance had been created. No rot or decay to balance life and the needs of the land. So another class of beings were created from the Vale's response to our wish. Elves were born in the rougher lands closer to the border, as a form of replacement for the balance the goblins had given us."

"Elves are-?! _I'm_ **magic**?!"  
"You always are to me."  
"Aww thanks sweetie."

Throwing the column a disgusted face, Marianne quickly glanced back to her father. She was getting the idea of why goblins and fairies couldn't be together **THEN** but why should it matter **NOW**? Too interested to know more, she decided to ask her questions later, but she promised herself she would get her answers.

"So eventually balance was made in each land and magic was slowly being locked away. There was one final issue to right itself before the vale became the Vale and the dark forest became the Dark Forest. The left over love shed between the goblins and fairies is a potent and dangerous magic to leave unmonitored; plus with no more hybrid children to use it up, it was soaked into the very soil on the border between the two new lands and bloomed into bright pink flowers."

"Primroses." Marianne murmured softly. A complicated look between disgust, anger and nostalgia crossed her face before it disappeared.

"Yes. Primroses. One of the remaining fairy users who had been part of the lead magical group, Aura, offered herself to be its eternal guardian. But the exposure of such a newly created plant gave her back her magic and had her fall into obsession with the concept of love."

"Wha…you mean the Sugar Plum Fairy?!" A look of bewilderment and 'How is this my life' was becoming a common face on the heir to the throne these days.

"The **SUGAR PLUM**?!"  
*gasp* "No way!"

"The plants had poured their magic into her and she in turn poured her magic into them. This made her the only person able to draw from that love inside their petals and make it into a love potion."

"This is the end of this history lesson but not the end of the conversation." Peering into slightly confused but determined eyes, he briefly asked his late wife for strength to finish the hardest part of this conversation.

"Dad you brought up good points to why we couldn't be together back THEN but you said it yourself. There's no more magic around to screw things up. And so what if Bog and I might not be able to physically have kids. Our heir can be either Dawn's child or whatever kid we want to adopt. If the council has issues with it then I will deal with them." Sitting up strong and proud, Dagda saw the queen his daughter could be appear before his eyes.

Standing from the chair, he began to stretch before walking towards Marianne.

"You think this is something just from the past. That it doesn't matter now. But your wrong. Just because fairies sealed our magic into our blood doesn't mean it hasn't lied for years in wait. Not to mention goblins never really sealed their magic away like we did. The tragedy hear Marianne is that you chose to …care for Bog, the current King and bearer of one of the few lines in the goblin kingdom who has active magic running through his veins. "

Crossing her arms over her chest she glared up at her father, trying to hide her disquiet with of his words.

"Bog has magic? How would you know dad? You barely even speak to him!"

Calm eyes bored deep into stubborn brown ones.

"Because of his eyes, Marianne."  
"His eyes?"  
"Yes. Goblins typically have either brown eyes or gold-greenish eyes. Bog has blue. It's his eyes that prove he has magic running in his veins. It's why Sugar Plum is blue herself; she has transcended as a being of magic over the years and her body has reflected the colour of the magic that used to run freely in these lands. In the goblin kingdom those with eyes the colour of magic could use actively some form of it."

Turning around he walked back to the chair, and dragged it to the side for a servant to put away before striding towards the doors.

"Dad? Wait! You still haven't told me why I can't be with Bog!"

Pausing by the exit he turned back to face the tension suddenly rising in Marianne's face while Dawn and Sunny slowly made their way to Marianne. Placing their hands on her shoulders and hands, they smiled their support, before looking at the king facing them from the main doors.

"He has dominant active magic in his blood and you have repressed magic sleeping in your blood."

Eyes filling with pity and sadness he finished spelling out the conclusion that had been slowly dawning on them.

"Your union would break the spell sealing our magic in our blood, bringing back conscious magic to not just fairies but serve as a revival of magic on goblins too. It would also be the spark of the return of those beautiful wretched hybrids. Either Bog or myself would be forced to put those children down, and even if they weren't driven insane by the amount of magic inside them the councils would never accept their existence let alone having one as an heir. The people may have forgotten the truth but we still remember and they would stop at nothing to ensure that the tragedy of the past not make a repeat in the future.

Opening the door, he took a step through it before glancing back at his horrified family.

"Please break up with Bog, Marianne. I can't see you two ending up happy in the long run. Love between fairies and goblins is nothing but a tragedy in the making. I don't want to think of what might happen to you if you continue to pursue your relationship."

Turning his back to the room he closed his eyes and sighed softly, there was work to be done and a council to distract for as long as possible. Walking away, the door slammed closed to the sounds of muffled chocked sobbing.

FIN


End file.
